AS202 Breakdown
by Star24
Summary: Part 2 of Alternate Season 2 - picks up where Smoke & Mirrors left off. ML COMPLETE
1. Prologue

**Breakdown by Star24**

**Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24******

**AN: Breakdown **is part two of an Alternate Season 2 for Dark Angel that I've been playing with. My premise is simply based on the concept of** Dark Angel continuing the mythology and character relationships that were created in Season 1. This is the "might have been" that many of us would have liked to see, instead of what we were given.  I'm working on a part three and will probably be posting that shortly after Breakdown is finished if all goes well. You really need to read part one – **Smoke & Mirrors** – for this to make sense. It's posted in its entirety here on fanfiction.net and I will be putting it up on my website shortly.******

**Previously in Smoke & Mirrors**

_It's__ three months after AJBAC and mysterious assassinations have been taking place around the country. Their targets are prominent politicians who have shown an interest in genetic experimentation. Logan is suspicious of the motives behind them and he is also deep in an investigation of Manticore, determined to revenge Max's death.  He has obtained a disk that allows him to hack into the Manticore database but his hack is detected and traced to __Seattle__ before he can get out of their system._

_Meanwhile Max is fighting re-indoctrination at the hands of Renfro. But when she learns that Renfro is going to use new techniques on her, she uses the Manticore selective memory techniques to forget her relationship with Logan (and that he is Eyes Only) in order to protect him. She knows she risks re-indoctrination by doing so because her memories of __Logan__ have been her anchor point, and have allowed her to resist Renfro, but she refuses to take the chance of betraying him to Manticore._

_Max escapes Manticore and makes her way back to __Seattle__ but as it turns out she has apparently been re-indoctrinated successfully by Renfro's new techniques. At the end of the story, after having been unable to hack into the Eyes Only Informant Net, she kidnaps __Logan__ and takes him away from __Fogle__Towers__ with her. Her plan is to force him to open up his Informant Net files to her, after which she has been ordered to kill him…_

**Prologue of Breakdown**

** A Safe House, somewhere in Seattle**

Logan was lying on a bed, minus the exo-skeleton, with his hands bound in front of him.

The room was dark, and as he waited for his eyes to adjust, he thought back on the events of the night…

_After he had left Max and went into his bedroom, he had stripped down to boxers and a T-shirt and settled in for the night. Propped up against his pillows, he had booted up his laptop and pulled up the Manticore database records he had downloaded several days earlier.  He scrolled through the records until he found a file named **Psyops. **Inside of it was a long list of files. He scrolled down and finally found one labeled **X5-452. He clicked on the file and waited for it to open. Before he could begin to read, he had felt a prickling on his neck, and he glanced up in alarm. **_

_Max stood in the doorway of his room smiling triumphantly at him. "Did you really think those 'police special' cuffs would hold me for very long? You disappoint me." With that she launched herself at him, and within seconds he was her prisoner. His hands were trussed in front of him. She carried the exo-skeleton over to the bed and expertly snapped it onto his legs over the boxers he was wearing, first slipping his boots onto his feet without bothering with socks. Once the exo was on him, she grabbed his discarded cargo pants and pulled them over it. She released his hands long enough to pull a light cotton sweater over his head, then tied them securely once again. _

_"Get up, we're moving out." Her voice was cold and emotionless, a soldier giving an order. _

_"I can't walk if the exo isn't turned on," __Logan__ pointed out to her reasonably, "and I can't turn it on with my hands tied."_

_Max flushed in annoyance, then reached down and snapped on the power to the unit. As soon as the unit hummed to life, she dragged __Logan__ roughly up from the bed and pushed him in front of her. He could feel the cold steel of her gun in his back. The fact that she was using a gun told him, more than anything else could have, that Manticore had done a thorough job of re-indoctrinating her._

_"If you want to live a bit longer, and if you don't want to see your X5 friend with a bloody hole in her forehead, I suggest that you stay very quiet." The menace in Max's words was soft but real._

_Logan__ had taken her point and went with her without protest. All the while his mind was racing through possible alternatives.  Max had maintained silence through the elevator ride down to the parking garage.  She had blindfolded him as soon as he was safely stowed in his own car, forcing him to lie on the floor in the rear so he had no chance of seeing where she was taking him. When they had arrived at their destination and were safely inside, she had removed the blindfold so he could walk without falling and then pushed him in front of her into a small bedroom, where she shoved him onto a bed and stripped off the exo-skeleton, leaving him helpless. Then she had left him there, alone in the dark, dusty room. _

Logan decided his best bet was to attempt to rest and conserve his strength for whatever Max had planned. He closed his eyes and dozed off, wondering if she would be returning alone, or if she would be accompanied by a squad of Manticore troops.

**End Prologue**


	2. Chapter One

**Breakdown by Star24**

**Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24.******

**Fogle**** **Towers******  9:00**** AM**

Bling pushed open the door to Logan's apartment, and quickly headed into the computer room which had now become Command Central. The petite blonde who was seated in front of Logan's computer turned at his entrance.

"I got here as fast as I could. What's going down? Where's the man? When did you get into town?" Bling shot questions at her in rapid sequence. "Last time I heard, you were in San Francisco."

Syl answered the most essential question, ignoring the rest. "Max has him." 

Bling looked at her in puzzlement, "And that's a bad thing because…?"

"It's a bad thing because Max doesn't really remember being Max. Manticore managed to re-indoctrinate her and she was sent out on a mission to assassinate Eyes Only. She tried to hack into the Informant Net last night but Logan and I stopped her."

"So if you stopped her, what went sideways?"

Syl had risen and was restlessly pacing the room. She grimaced at his question. "I thought she was secured and left her alone for the night. My mistake. When I got up this morning she was gone and Logan was gone with her. I don't believe he went willingly."

Bling's face was grim. "Maybe we need to wipe the Informant Net. Logan wouldn't want anything to happen to any of his people in case…" He left the last part unspoken.

"I don't think we have to do that just yet. I've locked down the system with some additional precautions of my own, over and above Logan's, and I've also set it to sound an alarm if anyone attempts access. If Max tries to force Logan into the Informant Net it might give us a lead as to where she's taken him."

"You don't think she took him straight back to Manticore? I still think we should secure the net and get out of here."

"I've been monitoring the Manticore transmissions all morning – Logan somehow got their comm frequencies – and there's been nothing so far about her returning to base. I think we're okay for now. It doesn't appear that she ever reported this location in to them, so I don't think they're going to come down on us anytime soon."

Bling still looked unsure, but after a moment he nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to monitor the system in case my alarm goes off. I also need you to try to think about what safe houses Logan has set up that Max might know about. We need to locate the two of them and we need to do it fast."

"I'll get right on it. Logan changed most of the safe house locations after the Manticore raid, when things started to heat up, but there might still be one or two that Max would be familiar with." Bling was already seated in front of the computers, starting to type in commands and open up files.

"I've gotta make a phone call. There's someone I need to talk to." Syl grabbed her cell phone and left Bling working on the computer pulling up addresses and skimming through files.

**Manticore**

The frightened looking medical tech stood at attention in front of Renfro's desk. Renfro had just finished reading through a file he had delivered to her.

"Why wasn't I informed of this problem sooner?" Renfro's voice cut like a whip as her eyes blazed fury at the tech. 

"Psyops was told the mission duration was to be no more than 5 days, Ma'am. That being the case, there would have been no problem." The tech looked like he would like nothing more than to drop down into a hole in the floor.

"Don't you think that I should have been informed that the conditioning was not fully in place, and that there might be complications if X5- 452 didn't receive more drug therapy within five days?" Icicles seemed to drip from the words, as Renfro's voice grew even colder than before. 

The tech opened his mouth to respond, but was forestalled by another voice speaking from the doorway of Renfro's office. "Psyops has never released an operative prior to complete certification before. And we've never used such a strong dosage in order to achieve short term results. Your orders were to get X5-452 ready for a mission that was to last a maximum of 4 -5 days and to do it immediately. The only way to do that was to use the psycho-active drugs as the primary control.  The underlying permanent conditioning was only 50-60% complete. Our report clearly stated that. Now, I suggest you let this young man leave and get back to his work."

The new voice spoke with strong authority, and Renfro turned to meet the eyes of the gray haired man who stood in her doorway. The technician hurried away, wiping his brow as he did so.

"The possible failure of this mission rests on your shoulders, Elizabeth. My people are not going to take the fall for you. What were you thinking of?  I was in Washington for a meeting, so you thought you'd run roughshod over my staff? Hungry for some glory? Elizabeth Renfro, the one who took out Eyes Only, the thorn in our side?" The newcomer was clearly angry, even though his voice was soft.

"He's more than a thorn, John, and you know it." Renfro didn't give an inch.

"He's a nothing. He doesn't have an inkling of what Manticore is really all about, and the damage he could have done was minimal. Let him make his little broadcasts and we can shut down a base or two. Make him and the public think we've gone away. Instead, you send one of the X5 units out after him, and risk blowing cover for the entire project. He's going to be more determined than ever to go after us if this mission fails, and we'll have lost a valuable X5 unit in the bargain. You'd better hope that X5-452's conditioning holds and the mission is successful. If things go sideways, it won't be my people going down." 

"Are you so sure the conditioning won't hold up? What exactly will happen when the drugs wear off?" Renfro questioned him.

"The X5 unit will go through severe withdrawal, including hallucinations and possible psychoses. If it makes it through that with its sanity intact, there's a 50-50 chance of the conditioning holding. If however, someone with knowledge of the conditioning techniques we use works on the unit, that probability drops down to less than 10%."

"There's no one on the outside with any knowledge of our techniques, much less anyone with detailed knowledge of the X5 series." Renfro's tone was dismissive.

"Are you forgetting about someone intimately involved with the X5 program who helped to pioneer those techniques? Someone who, by the way, you also failed to contain?"

Renfro looked at him her icy composure finally shaken. "Lydecker…" she whispered.

**End of Chapter One**


	3. Chapter Two

**Breakdown by Star24**

**Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24.******

**Safe House somewhere in ****Seattle****  10:00 AM**

The mattress Logan was lying on was lumpy and uncomfortable. Dust rose from it every time he shifted even slightly. The exo lay discarded in a corner of the room out of his reach. Max had shoved it there after they arrived and she had roughly stripped it off of him. The only furniture in the room, besides the bed he was lying on, was a battered chest of drawers and a rickety table. There was a window but it appeared to be boarded up from the outside. Cracks between the boards let in what little light there was. The walls of the room were cracked and stained, the plaster broken in places to show the studs behind.It seemed that he had been here for days, even though he knew in reality it had only been a few hours. 

Max had returned a short time before, waking him from his restless sleep. She hadn't said anything, but had proceeded to start pacing back and forth across the small room. She seemed agitated and unsure of how to proceed next. Logan had never seen her act quite like this before and he didn't like it at all. 

Logan watched as she continued to pace restlessly across the dingy room. "You know, I'm pretty damn helpless without the exo, and my wrists are going numb. Do you think you might see your way to untying them?" he asked mildly.

Max glanced around the room to see if there was anything dangerous within Logan's reach. She shrugged, and then walked over and snapped the rope as if it was a piece of flimsy string, freeing his hands.

"Thanks." Logan shook out his hands, massaging his wrists where red marks evidenced the rope cutting into them. "It's bad enough that I can't use my legs. I don't need to lose my hands as well."

"Do you honestly think you're going to have much time left to use them anyway? Your hacking days are over, Eyes Only." Max's voice was scornful.

Logan didn't bother to try to deny who he was. "You know that I'm not going to give you the codes for the Informant Net." He smiled calmly at her, refusing to be rattled by her words.

"Maybe it's not me you have to worry about getting them from you. The others who want them won't be as gentle as me." Max sneered at him. Logan noticed a sheen of sweat on her forehead and a slight flush to her cheeks. 

"Answer this question for me then, Max. Why are we here? Why didn't you send out the word last night and bring your people down on my place? They could have taken me and my entire system back to Manticore to work on at their leisure. Plus, they would have recaptured another rogue X5, as a bonus."

Max seemed to hesitate before she snapped off the answer. "This is my mission and I'm going to complete it, that's why. Renegade X5's aren't the mission. She's irrelevant. We'll pick her up sooner or later." She stopped pacing and ran a hand across her brow.

"Are you okay?" Logan looked at her in concern.

"I'm fine. You should be more worried about your own health."  Max unzipped her vest and pulled it off, leaving her clad only in a one piece black cat suit. She pulled the zipper of that down a few inches as well, revealing a glimpse of skin that seemed to be covered in a light sweat. "Damn, it's hot in this rat hole."

"So when do we start with the interrogation? Are we waiting for reinforcements with the cattle prods and whips to arrive?" 

"Shut up. We start with the questioning when I'm ready to start. Until then just keep your mouth shut."  Max seemed to be on edge, almost out of control, and Logan continued to study her, thinking hard as he waited for her next move.

**Fogle****Towers******

"Damn it, Krit, I need to talk to Deck now. Not tomorrow, not next week, _now. We have a serious situation here" Syl listened for a moment, "Well, do your best. I know he's a slippery bastard but right now he's all we've got.  I hacked into the Manticore Psyops files using Logan's programs, and found out what they've done to Max. They used experimental drugs on her and the dosages were off the scale. If she makes it through the drug withdrawal that's about to set in, we'll need to use the right deprogramming techniques on her or we could risk destroying her mentally. Manticore won't have her, but neither will we – she could end up a mental basket case."_

Syl closed her phone with a snap, and turned to where Bling sat watching her. Frustration was etched clearly on her face. "Have you had any luck with the safe houses?"

"I think there's a chance she might be at one of these two." He pointed to two flashing locations on the onscreen map. "For some reason Logan never abandoned them, and I'm pretty sure she used them for him last year for a couple of his missions. You know she might have gone somewhere completely different than one of his houses."

"I know but it's the only lead we have right now. Is there any way of finding out if there's been any suspicious activity at either one of them?"

"Let me get on the net and see if I can scare up some information." 

"Thanks, Bling. You know, Logan's lucky to have a friend like you."

"I'm the lucky one. Logan's the kind of guy that you don't see too often in this screwed up world. Maybe if we had more like him, it wouldn't be so screwed up. And Max…well she's something special herself. If I can help it, I ain't gonna let Manticore take either of 'em down."

Syl's voice was grim as she responded to him. "We'll get 'em back, Bling. Manticore isn't going to get Logan, and it's not going to get another one of my sisters. Not this time."  

She turned away and began to pace restlessly. Bling watched her for a minute and then went back to his computer work.

**End of Chapter Two**


	4. Chapter Three

**Breakdown by Star24**

**Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24.******

**_________________________________________________**

**Jam Pony                                                                                                         **

Original Cindy stood in front of the front desk of Jam Pony facing off with her boss. Normal was on the warpath. "She isn't even back one week, and she's back to her old tricks. That's it. She's history. Tell your girlfriend that she's out of here, and not to bother to show her face again."

Original Cindy held her ground, "My homegirl's sick as can be. Been vomittin' up her insides all night long. But if you really want her to get on that bike and deliver more than packages to your valued customers, Original Cindy will get on that phone and tell her to come in."

Normal grimaced at the image Cindy had conjured. "Sick all night, hah. Morning sickness more like. She probably spent the last three months shacked up with that money-is-no-object boyfriend of hers who dumped her when she got in the family way."

Suddenly, Normal found himself practically yanked across the counter. Original Cindy had grabbed his shirt and pulled him up close to her face. He'd never really seen her angry before, but her eyes were practically shooting fire at him.

"Don't you _ever go dissin' on Max that way. You forgettin' that she saved your sorry ass when those gang bangers were about to waste it over that painting?  Max is no whore or slut, and she ain't in the family way. If you want to find yourself running a messenger service with no messengers you just keep it up, Normal. Max is a straight up friend to us all, and she also happens to be the best damn messenger you got."_

Original Cindy released him and, as he reached up to smooth his shirt, he looked around to see the entire messenger staff gathered behind her. They were nodding in agreement with her words. 

"Well, then." he huffed. "You tell her that she better be back here with a doctor's note explaining her illness. And it better be signed by a real doctor, not some quack you hang out with in that bar."  He turned and started grabbing packages, handing them out to the messengers. Sketchy and Original Cindy exchanged relieved glances as they each took a package, grabbed their bikes, and headed out the door.

"So where is Max anyway?" Sketchy asked as they rode down the street together. "She wasn't at CRASH last night. She really that sick?"

"You heard what I told Normal, fool. You doubtin' on Original Cindy's word?" Cindy glared at Sketchy who quickly backed down.

"No. Sorry." Sketchy backed down in a hurry. "See ya later." When they reached the corner he quickly headed off towards Sector 6. Cindy watched him for a minute and then pulled her bike over to a payphone. She dropped in some coins and dialed a number.

"Yo, Logan. This is Original Cindy. Max never came home last night and I'm sure hopin' it's because you two finally worked out some of your issues. Hit me back on my pager and let me know.  I worry about my homegirl 'specially after what's gone down." 

Shaking her head in frustration, Cindy hung up the phone and got back onto her bike. She checked the delivery address on the package she had grabbed and pedaled slowly into the sparse Seattle traffic.

**Safe House, several hours later**

Max was still pacing, and she had begun to mutter to herself. She was sweating heavily, and even from where he was lying, Logan could see that her pupils were almost completely dilated. Something was clearly going on with her, but he was at a loss as to what exactly it was, and how to handle it. He didn't think it was her old seizures, he knew those symptoms. This was something different, something he hadn't seen in her before.

Suddenly, Max stopped pacing and dropped into a fighting stance, facing the door to the room. Logan hadn't heard anything to raise an alarm, but he assumed her enhanced hearing had picked something up. Max remained motionless for a few moments then she began to circle as if she was facing an opponent. Chills went down Logan's spine as she began to speak in a flat, yet somehow deadly voice.

"Did you really think you were going to get the drop on me? Fat chance, Brin. You were never as fast as me. And I heard you coming a block away." Max kicked out and then jumped back as if dodging a blow. She stumbled and grunted holding her stomach briefly, as if she had just been hit. She launched into a flurry of spins and kicks, occasionally dropping back as if her unseen opponent had landed a blow. Finally, she stood looking down at the floor. She lifted her foot and pushed at something on the floor, as if she was shoving a body aside.  "I told you, you weren't fast enough."

She stood there for a moment more looking down, but then, with a sudden change of mood she dropped to the floor and her shoulders began to shake as she broke into sobs, "Brin. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry. Please Brin, talk to me… "

Logan watched in fascination and concern. When Max eventually raised her head and looked over at him he couldn't help an involuntary flinch backwards. Her eyes were wild, almost predatory, and the look on her face didn't seem quite sane. She slowly stood up, never once taking her eyes off of him. Logan felt a shiver go down his spine. For that moment, he was truly afraid of Max and what she might do to him.

"Max." he said softly, trying to sooth her, as she stalked towards him.

"You thought your traitor was going to get you away, didn't you? How did you manage to turn Brin? What did you do to her?"  Max's fists were clenched in anger as she drew closer to where he was lying on the bed, helpless to get away.

"Nothing, Max. I've never even spoken to her." Logan kept his voice calm and low, refusing to panic even though he could feel the danger emanating from her as if it was a tangible thing. 

"Liar. You did something and I had to kill her. Look at her lying there on the floor. You forced me to kill my sister, you bastard." Max's voice was rising as she moved closer, cold fury in her eyes.

"Max, there's no one there. It's an hallucination." Logan desperately injected a tone of command into his voice, "Halt where you stand, soldier."

Max hesitated, and Logan held his breath. She halted her advance and stood rigid.

"Turn around and look. There is _no one_ else in this room." Logan waited, as Max seemed to be struggling with herself.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably only seconds, Max turned slowly, her eyes scanning the room. Her body seemed to relax, and when she turned back to Logan there was confusion in her eyes, replacing the anger that had been there only seconds earlier. Her skin was even more flushed than it had been, and she appeared dazed.

"Who are you? What are we doing here? Where's Colonel Lydecker? What happened to the unit?" Her voice was that of a child, and her entire posture had changed.  "Zack? Where's Zack?" 

Before Logan could respond, Max began to shake violently.  She pulled her arms into her chest as if she was cold and dropped to the floor where she curled into a small ball. Logan watched in horror as the shaking continued and she began to moan as if she was in pain. This continued for several minutes, until Max let out a scream of agony and then went completely still.

**End of Chapter Three**


	5. Chapter Four

**Breakdown by Star24**

**____________________________________**

**Manticore, Situation Room**

Elizabeth Renfro aimed her icy gaze at the two soldiers standing at attention in front of her. "I want a complete Tac team assembled and ready to move out on my command. X5-452 may have been compromised and the mission will be to extract her, and to eliminate Eyes Only. How long will it take to mobilize?"

The Captain answered without hesitation. "I can have a team ready for deployment in less than thirty minutes, Ma'am. Do you have the coordinates available for the X5's location?"

"Not yet but we're working on it. A latent tracking device was inserted into her arm, set to activate if she hasn't returned to base by 24:00 hours tomorrow. Operations is attempting to activate it sooner. Have your team on alert and ready to move out when I give the order. Destination will be Seattle. Dismissed."

"Yes, Ma'am." The Captain saluted and started to give the nod to his lieutenant to leave, but Renfro stopped them.

 "There's one more thing Captain, I want an X5 included on the team. I'll personally assign an appropriate one.  If the team plus the X5 are unable to contain and retrieve X5-452, deadly force is authorized as per Directive 399. Acknowledge and confirm that order."

"Acknowledged, Ma'am. The team will include an X5 assigned by the Director. X5-452 is to be returned at all costs. In the event of failure to contain and retrieve, deadly force is to be used to terminate the X5. Directive 399 is in force." 

"That will be all soldier."  Renfro turned on her heel and left. 

The Captain watched her leave and when she was safely out of earshot he turned to his lieutenant and said, "That is one ice cold, ball breaking bitch."

**Fogle****Towers****12:00**** **Noon********

_"…let me know.  I worry about my homegirl 'specially after what's gone down." _

Bling looked at Syl as they listened to Original Cindy's message play on Logan's answering machine. "I think we should bring her into the loop. Except for Logan, she's closer than anyone else is to Max. From what you say, we may need all the help we can get to break that conditioning." 

Syl considered Bling's words. "That means telling her about Manticore. How do we know she won't freak out?"

"She already knows. The South Africans used her to try to get to Max last year, and Max clued her in to who and what she is. She doesn't know that Logan is Eyes Only, but I don't think we need to tell her that. It's my strong opinion that Original Cindy needs to be a part of this thing." Bling's voice was strong and sure.

Syl thought hard then shrugged, "I'm gonna defer to you on that. We're working virtually blind if we can't contact Deck, and if she's that close to Max, she may be what we need to tip the scales. Call her back and get her over here. As soon as we locate Max and Logan we're gonna need to move. The stuff I read in those Psyops files about the drug reaction is making me nervous. I don't think we have much time to act. I only hope Logan is still okay."

Bling stopped in the act of dialing the phone, and stared at Syl with a look of alarm on his face, "You think Logan is in immediate danger from Max? She still needs him to get into the Net. I thought he'd be safe unless she managed to get into it."

"Max is going to be going through an extreme drug withdrawal shortly. It may have already begun.  To quote the Psyops files_ 'hallucinations and psychotic episodes are likely side effects'. Max may not even recognize Logan if she has a psychotic episode. That's why we need to get to them as quickly as we can."_

Without another word, Bling went back to work trying to track activities at the two safe houses.

**Safe House**

Max was still on the floor, curled into a ball and shaking uncontrollably.  After that one scream, she had subsided into whimpers and soft moans.  

Logan had lowered himself off of the sagging bed to the floor when it became clear that Max wasn't going to get up on her own. At first he had begun to drag himself over to where she lay shaking. Halfway there he stopped and reversed direction, realizing that it was essential that he have full mobility if he was going to try to help Max. 

The floor was made of rough wooden planks and he picked up more than one splinter as he dragged himself over to where the exo-skeleton lay discarded in the corner of the room. When he finally reached it, he looked down at his scratched and bleeding hands and forearms and shrugged.  He donned the exo-skeleton with the ease of long practice, then pulled his pants back on over it. A look of relief crossed his face when he touched the switch and it powered up with a soft hum. 

He came to his feet and swiftly crossed to where Max lay shaking on the floor. Kneeling beside her, he gently placed a hand on her forehead.

"Damn, you're burning up. Max, can you hear me? Max?"  He stroked her hot forehead as he tried to get through to her. She was unresponsive, and if anything, the shaking was growing worse rather than subsiding.  "Max, I can't carry you. The exo won't handle the extra load. Max, is there any way you can help me?"

He sat on the floor and managed to pull her into his arms, cradling her gently, continuing to talk soothingly to her. The shaking finally began to subside, and after long minutes, her eyes fluttered open. 

"L..L..Logan?"  there was recognition of him in her eyes and Logan sighed in relief.

"I'm here. It's gonna be okay. Do you think you can make it to the bed if you lean on me? I can't carry you. The exo can't do it."

Max nodded, and Logan gently lowered her back down to the floor so he could rise. Once he was standing he reached down for her hands and, with her assistance, he was able to pull her up to a standing position.  Max wavered and would have fallen if not for Logan pulling her close with an arm around her waist.

"Lean on me, Max. That's good. We're going to walk over to the bed. Just a few steps.That's it…" The two slowly made their way to the battered bed, and Logan let out a relieved breath as Max collapsed on to it. She looked up at him in confusion, her brief moment of sanity seemingly passed.

"Who are you? Where is this place? Where is my unit?"  All recognition of him was now gone from her eyes. "I'm cold. Why is it so cold? Am I a prisoner?  Why are you making me so cold?" Her eyes were growing wild again, and she began to shiver violently.

Logan sat down next to her and reached out his hands, meaning to pull her close to try to warm her. But when he reached out to her, she jerked back wildly, in a panic.

 "Don't touch me!" Her hands came up in a defensive position, "You're trying to turn me aren't you?  Don't come near me with that needle. I'll kill you if you try to use it on me…" 

Despite her fierce words, her hands were shaking and she couldn't hold them in position for long. Logan waited until she dropped her hands.  In a sudden change of mood, she started crying. "Zack, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. If I hadn't insisted on going after Manticore you'd still be okay. Please Zack, please don't hate me. Don't turn away from me…Zack…" Tears ran down her face. Logan moved closer and this time she let him pull her into his arms.  She collapsed against his chest and continued to sob as Logan held her and stroked her back gently.

Suddenly she sat bolt upright, wrenching herself from his arms, "Damn, I'm gonna hork." 

Logan looked around frantically. "Hang on a minute, Max. Just a minute. Can you do that?" 

She looked at him and nodded, keeping her mouth tightly closed. 

Rising from the bed, he walked over and grabbed a battered trash can that was sitting under a table. He upended it, dumping out the crumbling papers it held, and quickly brought it back to Max.

"Best I can do on such short notice." 

Max took it without a word, and proceeded to be sick. Logan took the can when she finished and put it down on the floor next to the bed. He pulled a Kleenex from his pants pocket and handed it to her to wipe her face.

"Max, I'm gonna see if I can find some water for you, okay? Just rest here until I get back." 

Max nodded weakly and collapsed backwards onto the bed. He left the room and found himself in a dingy hallway with several doors opening off of it. One of them led into a small, grimy bathroom. When he turned the faucet there was a shrill squeal, but then after a few seconds rusty water began to flow. Leaving the water running, he opened the battered medicine cabinet that was mounted on the wall above the sink and found a dusty plastic cup.  The water was running clear, so he rinsed the cup and then filled it with fresh water.  As he was about to return to Max, he heard a series of crashes in the other room. He dropped the cup into the sink, and turned and hurried back to where he had left her.

**End of Chapter Four**


	6. Chapter Five

**Breakdown by Star24**

**Disclaimer:** Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24.

_________________________________

**Seattle Street Corner, late afternoon**

Original Cindy stood at a payphone, tapping her foot impatiently. It had started to drizzle, but she ignored the moisture, keeping her entire focus on her conversation.

"Hey, Bling. I got a page from Logan. Can I talk to him?" She listened intently. "Well where are they then? What went down? Do you think the black helicopter dudes got the two of them? You sure 'bout that?  Yeah, I can make it over there. I'm on my last run for the day. Lemme drop off my signature sheets on the way and I'll be there. Anything for my girl and her boy, you know that."

She hung up the phone shaking her head, then hopped on her bike and headed toward Jam Pony, heedless of any traffic in her way. 

**Manticore**

"What do you mean you can't activate the transmitter any sooner? I want X5-452 located now." Renfro's customary calm had deserted her and she was almost screaming into the phone. "Excuses are not acceptable. Find a way. Or you'll be doing latrine duty for the rest of your career."

She hung the phone up with a slam and rose from her desk.  There was a light knocking on her door and she looked over impatiently. "Come in," she snapped out.

Joe, the computer tech, entered cautiously.

"Yes?" Renfro said, clearly annoyed at the interruption.

"Ma'am, do you remember that bogey in our system a few days ago?"

"Do you any have more information for me as to where it originated?"

"I've been working on the trace, Ma'am. I don't have an exact location but I've narrowed it down to within two sectors. It came from either Sector 5 or Sector 9."

"Is that the best you can do?" Her tone was clearly dismissive of the information and of him, as less than useless.

"I'm afraid so, Ma'am."

"Keep working on it." She turned in dismissal and the tech left her office, muttering under his breath over her treatment of him.

As soon as the door closed Renfro picked up the phone. "I have a possible location for X5-452. It appears she may be somewhere in Sector 5 or Sector 9.  We're working to narrow it down, but I'm ordering the team mobilization now. I want you set up in Seattle by tomorrow morning. You'll receive further instructions once you're there."

**Fogle****Towers**

"I think I've found where they might be. One of the informants managed to track down a report of screams coming from this location earlier." Bling pointed to one of the two flashing lights on the monitor. 

"Why didn't anyone investigate? Do you think they're still there?" Syl asked.

"It's not the kind of neighborhood where screams are uncommon. Can't tell if they're there or not, or if it was even them, but it's the only lead we've got."

Syl thought a moment. "I'm going to check it out up close and personal."  She forestalled Bling who started to speak. "You need to stay here and monitor the Manticore comm frequencies. If they start heading toward the safe house let me know immediately. Or if they start heading here, for that matter. If that happens, wipe the Informant Net and get out."

Bling pulled open a drawer and handed Syl a comm link. "It's voice activated. Just holler if you need me."

Syl took the link and started toward the door. As she opened it, Original Cindy who was standing in the hallway, dropped the hand she had raised to knock.

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm Syl, one of Max's sisters. You must be Original Cindy."

"Turn around and lift your hair." Cindy ordered as Bling watched in amusement. Syl complied and allowed Cindy to see her barcode. 

"Ok, so I know you're from the same place Max is, but how do I know you ain't one of the black hats in disguise?" 

"It's ok. Syl's one of the ones who escaped with Max. She's cool." Bling intervened.

Original Cindy still seemed unsure, but she shrugged and came in. 

"Where are they? What happened last night?" Her worry for her friend was clear in her voice.

Syl gave her a quick rundown of the situation. "Manticore managed to re-indoctrinate Max before they sent her back here. Last night she attempted to force Logan to download the Informant Net, and after that she intended to kill him. I stopped her and thought I had her secure for the night. I was wrong. When I got up this morning, she had freed herself and taken off with Logan. We think she's holding him in a safe house in Seattle. I'm on my way to their possible location now." 

"If she was brainwashed, why didn't she take Logan straight back to black hat central?" Original Cindy cut to the heart of the matter. "Why would she still be hangin' around Seattle?"

"I don't believe the process was complete. Max is strong and she's fighting it on some level. The immediate problem is that they used some extremely strong psycho-active drugs on her, and she's very probably in the middle of a severe drug withdrawal even as we stand here. I need to get to her and Logan fast." _Before she hurts Logan,_ was unspoken but understood by all three of them.

"I'm coming with you." 

"No. You'd only slow me down. Stay here. Bling has some files detailing what they've done to Max. Read them. We need ideas on how to handle her when I bring them back."

Original Cindy looked like she was about to argue, but before she could say anything more, Syl was gone. 

"Damn. She moves like my girl does." She turned grimly to Bling, "Bring on the reading material. If there's anything Original Cindy has experience with, it's helping bring down peeps from a bad trip. Seems like that might come in handy."

**End of Chapter Five**


	7. Chapter Six

**Breakdown by Star24**

**Disclaimer:** **Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24**

______________________________****

**Safe House**

Logan returned to the bedroom, only to find that Max had left the bed, and seemed to be in the grip of another hallucination. The table lay in pieces on the floor and she stood there, holding a broken table leg as if it was a weapon.

When Max spotted him, she began to use some of the hand signals that he knew were Manticore battle language. Playing along with her belief that he was one of her comrades, he followed her directions.  When she had him placed where she wanted him, Max sprung into a flurry of action against her unseen opponents. Watching her Logan had a sense of déjà vu. The scene reminded him of her earlier actions when she had believed she was fighting Brin.

When she finished, she turned to Logan triumphantly. "Nice work soldier. Good thing you came along when you did. Pack up your gear so we can return to base and report on this incident."

"You're bleeding," Logan lied to her.  "Better let me look at that and clean it up before we head back."

Max looked to where he was pointing on her leg. She frowned and Logan was afraid his ruse wasn't going to work. After a moment of confusion, she allowed him to lead her back to the bed.  When he had her lying down he ordered her to stay there, and he hurried back to the bathroom for water.  He returned to find her shaking and incoherent once more.

Logan slid onto the bed next to her. He leaned back against the wall and pulled her into a semi-sitting position, letting her lean back against his chest.  "Max, try to take some of this water." He held the cup to her lips and managed to get some down her. 

"No more." After a few sips she turned her head away from the cup. "I'm cold. Please, don't let me be so cold…" Logan reached down and felt her forehead. Her earlier fever was gone; instead her skin was damp and clammy.

There were no blankets to be seen, so Logan stretched out next to her and pulled her close against him wrapping his arms around her. Max curled into the warmth of his body and her shivering seemed to ease. She was soaked in sweat and her hair was hanging in strings around her face.  Her eyes were closed, but she continued to mutter and moan periodically as she lay there next to Logan. 

"No…don't…I won't…I'm Max. My name is Max…Original Cindy is…she doesn't know _anything…I don't _know_ who Eyes Only is…Ben…Ben, I'm sorry…the blue lady, …Logan…don't hurt Logan…no…not Logan….no please…I won't…Max…my name is Max…"_

She continued on, mumbling fragments and occasionally growing agitated. Each time she did, Logan soothed her with soft words and touches until she calmed. Finally, she seemed to have slid into a restless sleep. Exhausted by the events of the day, Logan slept as well.  Night fell and the room grew dark as the two of them lay sleeping on the broken bed,** curled close together. ******

**Sector 12**

Syl walked cautiously through the streets that bordered the waterfront district. Bling had been right about the area, it was a rough one. Drug dealers and hookers with their pimps hung out on every street corner, and Syl found herself the object of solicitation more than once. 

She checked the street signs and turned down a street that was even narrower and dingier than the ones she had so far traversed. The buildings on this street all appeared to be deserted, but candles flickered in some windows, clear signs of squatters.  As she walked, the sound of footsteps keeping pace behind her became apparent. 

Halfway down the block the footsteps behind her sped up. Syl whirled and stopped in fighting position. Two rough looking males in their early twenties stood facing her.

"Aw look, she thinks she wants to fight us," one of them laughed. "Isn't she cute?"

"C'mon baby. We just want ta have some fun with ya. We won't hurt ya." The other taunted Syl. 

Syl refused to respond and waited for their attack. The two exchanged glances and split up, one going to each side of her, obviously planning on dividing her attention. As they charged, Syl turned into a blur of motion, whirling and delivering hard kicks to each in turn, sending them sprawling.  The first leapt up and charged her once again, head down. Syl easily stepped aside and behind him. She used his own momentum against him and with a hard shove from her he went headfirst into a building wall. He went down and stayed down. 

The other thug had scrambled up and was now advancing on her holding a knife in one hand. Syl stood there calmly as she waited for him to draw closer.

"That's it baby. Don' worry about tha fool. You an me gonna have a good time. I won't hurt you, you gonna like it 'cause I the man. Come to poppa," he crooned, mistaking her stillness for fear of his knife.  When he reached her, Syl suddenly jumped into the air, executing a perfect somersault as she soared over his head. She came down behind him and before he could turn to face her, she had him from the rear. His knife arm was immobilized and when he started to struggle she simply turned it facing him.

"You wanna stab yourself, be my guest." 

He continued to struggle for a moment, but Syl was tired of the game and released his arms, transferring her hold to his neck before he could react. She cut off his air supply and within seconds he went limp against her. Dropping his limp body next to that of his friend, she pocketed his knife and then wiped her sweaty hands on her pants. 

"Sweet dreams, fellas," she chuckled as she went on her way. 

**Manticore – Psyops **

The sign on the frosted glass of the door read **Director, Psyops_. _**Inside the office the gray haired man who had spoken to Renfro earlier, snapped open a cell phone. He punched in a number and waited.

"_Hello?" the voice at the other end made it more of a question than a greeting._

"Donald. John here. It's good to speak to you again."

_"Is this a secure line?"_

"Don't you know me better than to ask that? I'm disappointed. Of course it is."

"_To what do I owe this honor?"_

"Your successor has made a complete mess of things. We desperately need someone competent here to clean it up."

"_And that has what to do with me? She made very sure I was persona non grata."_

"That may be changing. It seems that somehow, through her carelessness, the Manticore database has been compromised. Fancy that. That investigative journalist fellow, Eyes Only has been snooping around in it."

"_That's not enough to bring her down. She'll find someone to lay the blame on."_

"Ah, but couple it with her failure to eliminate Eyes Only, and her loss of a valuable X5 on the botched assassination mission, not to mention the blown up genetics lab a few months ago…"

"_Very nice, John but I still don't quite get what's in all that for me?"_

"Let's just say that a Manticore Tac team is about to walk into a trap set by the renegade X5s in Seattle in, oh let's say, approximately 12 hours. And the man who gets them out of that trap, could be expected to be welcomed home as the misunderstood but conquering hero."

"_Let me ask the $64 million question then…what's in it for you?"_

"An ally when I need one, plus the disposal of an extremely annoying and dangerous loose cannon. Elizabeth is going to bring us all down if she's allowed to go unchecked. It's time to put an end to her."

"_Which X5 is about to go missing in aid of your little scenario?"___

"One already has. The one Elizabeth recovered three months ago, X5-452. Not a real loss to the program. My technicians have advised me that reprogramming of that one will never be a success. Short of mentally simplifying the unit to the point of being useless as anything but dumb muscle, or possibly as a breeder, they haven't found a way. Of course we haven't let Elizabeth or anyone else know that. In fact, all of the official records now indicate that the reprogramming would have been a resounding success if not for Elizabeth's carelessness."

_"X5-452. That doesn't surprise me."_

John almost thought he heard a faint chuckle in the voice on the other end of the phone.

_"What do you need me to do?"_

"Sit tight. I'll get you the information on the ambush and then I'll leave it to you. You also might want to contact X5-452's allies to give them some hints on the de-programming. We don't want 452 to show up back here and spoil things by some wild chance."

_"What makes you think I can contact her allies as you call them?"_

"We've known each other for twenty odd years, Donald. Need I say more?"

_"No."_

And Donald…"

_"Yes?"_

_"_Welcome home. We've missed you. Your old office will be ready for you."

**End of Chapter Six**


	8. Chapter Seven

**Breakdown by Star24**

**Disclaimer:** **Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24**

______________________ 

**Seattle, Sector Police Headquarters**

Matt Sung looked at the directive that had just come across his desk and let out a soft whistle. "The city's going into lockdown? What brought that on?"

The detective at the next desk turned to him. "I think it has something to do with the attempt on Judge Jergen's life. Chief Mills' secretary told me that he's been closeted in his office all morning on the phone. The calls have been coming in on the secure line."

"That means someone high up is calling the shots on this thing. I thought they had the shooter in custody?" Matt frowned in concentration.

"Man, you _are out of touch. She broke out last night. Took out a few cops doing it, too. Personally I think she had some kind of help. Remember Bernie Sorenson?"_

Matt frowned in concentration, "Big guy? Looked like he could play linebacker if we still had a pro football team?"

"That's the guy. You tell me how a little girl all of 5'4" and weighing about 110 pounds could not only take out a guy like that, but break his arm in three places doing it?

Matt just looked at him and didn't answer. With a shrug the other man turned back to his paperwork. Matt pretended to do the same, but after a few minutes he let out an exclamation. "Damn. I'm supposed to have a meet in fifteen minutes. Chief'll kill me if I miss it; the guy's supposed to have a line on those drug runners we've been chasing for the last three months."

"Better move it then, buddy. The Chief on the warpath is not a pretty sight."

"Yeah. Catch you later." Matt was out the door as he spoke, leaving the other detective to shake his head in sympathy.

**Safe House, just after dawn the next day**

Max stirred in Logan's arms and he looked down at her. Her skin didn't appear to be as flushed, and when he felt her forehead her fever was gone. She appeared to have fallen into a more natural sleep and he gently released her, and eased her down onto the mattress. 

She muttered slightly but didn't wake up. Logan used the time to look around the room to see if there was anything that he might find useful. Unfortunately he didn't have his cell phone, and he was afraid to use the comm link he found lying on the floor. He suspected that if he activated it, they would have some unwelcome visitors in no time at all. Instead he ground it under his heel, making very sure it wouldn't function again. 

He briefly walked through the rest of the safe house, but there was only one other bedroom, the bathroom, a small living room and a gutted kitchen. All of the windows were boarded up and when he cracked the front door he could see that they were in a rough neighborhood. It was not one where he could realistically expect to find any help. Just the opposite, drawing the attention of its denizens was more likely to put them in danger, especially with his lack of any weapons and Max in no shape to defend them.

With a sigh he headed back to where he had left Max sleeping.  

* * * *

Max rolled over and came awake with a start.  She wrinkled her forehead as she tried to recall why she was lying on a dusty, lumpy mattress in an abandoned house. Visions of 

fighting with Brin and unknown enemy soldiers ran through her mind, along with a memory of being held close by….Logan?  

She struggled as she tried to remember what was significant about Logan. Images floated through her head, but try as she might she couldn't quite grasp on to them long enough to make any sense of them. Voices began to echo in her head…

_"Duty…obedience…discipline…"the voices whispered. "Those are what are real in your life 452. Emotions are for ordinaries. Emotions will kill you. You are a soldier 452. A soldier of Manticore…"_

_"Eyes Only is the enemy…your assignment is to obtain his files and eliminate him."_

_"You're poison X5-452…poison…poison…poison…"_

_"You have a choice 452. You can be one of us or you can join the nomlies in the basement. Which will it be? Make your decision 452…"_

_"The enemy is clever. They will try to deceive you. Trust no one, 452. Your fellow soldiers are your only friends. The ordinaries will kill you if they find out what you are. Your safety lies in Manticore. You are X5-452. Remember your designation. Remember what you are, what you were bred to be…"_

_"X5-452. X5-452. X5-452 X5-452…"_

But then other voices came to life, drowning out the whispers.

_"You my boo... For life. No matter what"_

_"You look beautiful in it…in fact you were the most beautiful woman there…"_

_"It's called soul power, sugah."_

_"You're the miracle. You did this. You gave me back my life."_

_"You have nothing to be sorry for...or ashamed of. I know who you are."_

_"Just come back…"_

She pushed back her hair and sat on the edge of the bed realizing that she felt shaky and weak. A creak in the floor alerted her, and she looked up to see Logan standing in the doorway of the room regarding her cautiously.

**Fogle****Towers******

The door to the penthouse opened and Bling and Original Cindy looked up, anticipation on their faces. Syl was alone and she shook her head.

"I checked out both safe houses – no luck at either one of them. Those screams were probably just some hooker getting beat up by her pimp or something. So we're back at square one it seems."

"Not quite. Message came in for you while you were gone. It's encoded – I couldn't open it." Bling indicated the monitor which had a flashing icon in one corner.

Syl quickly crossed the room and clicked on the icon. She drew in a breath. "Damn. This is a Manticore battle group code." She turned to Bling. "You're positive none of the alarms on the system went off while I was gone?"

"Not a one. I triple checked this for signs of worms or Trojans as well, and it came up clean."

"Let me decode it and see what it says. It'll take me a few. Things are certainly getting interesting around here, is all I have to say."

"I only hope they aren't too interesting wherever Max and Logan are." Bling said a worried frown creasing his forehead.

**Seattle, Sector 5**

The Manticore Tac team settled into the deserted warehouse that they had chosen as their headquarters. It was located in Sector 5 but it was only a short distance from Sector 9 in case that was where they were directed. 

"Settle in and get the comms in place," the leader directed. "We may not see action until tonight, but I want everything ready to go. Once you're set up, I want perimeter guards to patrol in three hour shifts. The rest of the team is to rest and prepare for action.

**Seattle, an apartment**

Donald Lydecker's cell phone beeped softly. Picking it up he pressed the ON button.

_"Lazarus this is Medusa. The trap is set for 23:00 hours tonight. Are you ready for the location coordinates?"_

"Proceed with coordinates." Taking out a piece of paper Deck listened and jotted down a series of numbers. "What will the opposition consist of?"

_"Opposition consists of five X5 series units. Units are armed with conventional weapons_."

"Does Medusa want the units returned alive?"

_"Negative. The units are expendable and replaceable. Deadly force is authorized. Do you copy?"_

"I copy."

There was a click and the cell phone went dead.  Deck set it down on the table and picked up the paper on which he had noted the coordinates. He stared at it for several moments and then with calm deliberation he took out a match. Placing the slip into a glass ashtray, he lit the match and stood there in deep thought as he watched the paper go up in flames.

**Fogle ****Towers******

Syl walked over to where Bling and Original Cindy waited for her. 

"What did it say?" Original Cindy demanded.

"Who was it from?" came from Bling.

"It was from Lydecker. Krit managed to contact him." 

Original Cindy drew in a deep breath and started to advance on Syl, anger in her face. "You are one of them. One of them black helicopter guys."

Syl leapt to her feet and stood there ready to defend herself. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Lydecker." Cindy spat out in disdain. "Max gave me the 411 on him last year. He's the one been after her. The one who took away her sister and brother."

Syl relaxed. "Yeah, until one of his own turned him into a man with a price on his head. He's in the wind as much as all of us are now. I had my brother contact him for some help on deprogramming Max. Lydecker's the bastard who created the techniques. He's the best one to help us figure out how to beat them."

Original Cindy looked at Bling. He nodded in confirmation of Syl's words.  "What she said. He's a bastard, but he's out in the cold now. Logan has had some contact with him in the last few months. I won't say he completely trusted him, but he did say the man was in the know about Manticore."

"My momma always said that no leopard ever gonna change it's spots. Why are you so sure you want to believe anything he says?"

Syl sighed. "I hear you. Anyway if we don't find them we won't get a chance to use his advice so it may not matter. Not that I'm even sure what it is."

Bling and Original Cindy looked at her in confusion. 

"He didn't really say much. Here, look." 

She handed a slip of paper to Original Cindy who took it and read it out loud. "_Remember your training. Don't let the enemy's apparent weakness fool you. What appears to be his weak point may actually be his point of greatest strength and conversely, his apparent strength may be his Achilles heel.  What's that supposed to mean?__"_

"I'm not sure. I have to think about the stuff he taught us – it's gotta be in there somewhere. Then we need to find Max and Logan and try to use whatever it is that means. We also have to figure out Max's trigger phrase."

"What's a trigger phrase?" Original Cindy wanted to know.

"It has to do with the selective memory techniques. Before we make ourselves forget we pick out a trigger phrase. When we hear it, it releases the memory block we've created."

"If you forgot everything how would you know what the trigger phrase is?" Cindy looked confused.

"Either we give it to someone trusted before we use the technique, or we choose something that only someone we're close to would ever use. It's tricky."  Syl's shoulders slumped and she looked discouraged.

Bling walked over to her and gave her a hug. "We'll figure it out. If Logan hasn't already.  He knows her better than anyone. If he can break through to her he'll do it, even without this so-called advice from Lydecker."

"Yeah, maybe…if he's still in any shape to do that…" Syl muttered the last so softly that the others almost didn't catch it.

"We need some food. When did the two of you eat last?" Original Cindy took charge. 

Bling and Syl just looked at her. 

"Thought so. Original Cindy may not be a gourmet chef like Max's hot boy but she knows her way around a kitchen. I'm gonna rustle up some food for us all. Maybe we can think better after we eat." With that she headed in the direction of Logan's kitchen. Bling started to follow but Syl headed to the computer room.

"Call me when it's ready. I'm going to try some more ideas for locating them."

**Safe House**

Max stared at Logan as he stood there in the doorway of the bedroom watching her. She frowned in confusion and her eyes swept the room. 

"What's happening? What is this place?"

"What do you remember, Max?" Logan made no move to come any closer to where she sat on the sagging bed.

"I…I'm not sure. It's all mixed up in my head…" Max dropped her head into her hands, slumping forward, and her hair fell forward hiding her face from him.

Logan abandoned caution and crossed the room in a few swift steps, dropping down to sit next to her. He reached his hands toward her shoulders but suddenly she spun into a whirlwind of motion and he found himself lying flat on his back. Max was kneeling over him, holding his arms stretched out over his head. He looked into her eyes and was relieved to see that at least she appeared to be rational. The previous wildness was gone from them. 

"Max?" he tried.

"What is this place? How do I know you aren't just a trick Manticore set up to break me or an ordinary sent to kill me?" 

"Ask me something that Manticore would have no way of knowing about, Max." Logan suggested to her calmly, realizing that she remembered nothing of the past few day's events, and possibly nothing for some time prior to them. 

She frowned and shook her head, once again seeming confused. "What did they do to me? How can I be sure who you really are…? How do I know if I really remember you and that you aren't just something they implanted in my head? " The last was a whisper. 

Logan remained silent, not sure what to say.  Max suddenly rolled off of him even as she maintained her grip on his wrists. Logan didn't attempt to free himself.

Max released his wrists and jumped to her feet. "Don't even think of trying anything," she warned him.

"Believe me, I have no desire to get my ass kicked today, Max." Logan assured her with a wry grin. "Am I allowed to sit up?"

Max just shot him a look and taking that as a yes, Logan eased himself to a sitting position. He thought hard about his next move. Max was clearly past what he now realized had been a withdrawal from some heavy drugs, probably used as a part of Manticore's re-programming procedures. He guessed that Manticore had been using intense psychological techniques on her in addition to the drugs.  The trick now would be to gain her confidence and help her differentiate between Manticore implanted memories and her real ones.

**End of Chapter Seven**


	9. Chapter Eight

**Breakdown by Star24**

**Disclaimer:** **Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24**

______________________ 

**Chapter Eight**

**A Warehouse in Sector 5**

The Tac team had settled in with the ease of long practice as they waited for a location and orders for their mission. Their leader walked around checking out the preparations and nodded in satisfaction at what he saw. This was a good team. Even the one new member, the X5 they had brought along on orders from Renfro, was fitting smoothly into the routine.

He wondered briefly what had caused the X5 they were after to go rogue, but decided it was better not to know. Like most of the normal soldiers, he was wary of the X-series. Even the ones who looked the most human were different from the rest of them. They were handy to have around in the heat of battle, but other than that he preferred to keep his distance. 

"Sir?" 

He turned, startled to see that the X5 had come up behind him without him being aware of her approach. As she stood there patiently waiting he took a moment to look closely at her. Like all of the X5 series she was pretty, no, she was more on the order of beautiful, if he was honest with himself.  She was average height with a slim build but it was her face that caught one's attention. It was oval shaped and there was a slightly Asian cast to her features. Her coloring however was pure Scandinavian, blonde hair and clear blue eyes, which combined with her features to give her an exotic look.  

"Yes, soldier?" he forced himself to stay in character as her commanding officer for this mission, even as he found himself intensely aware of her as a man. He briefly wondered if physical attractiveness had been a deliberately planned parameter for the Xs, since they were often used as undercover operatives.

"Is there anything you would like me to do? In preparation for the mission?"

"What's your designation?" he asked ignoring her question for the moment. "I can't call you _Hey You in the middle of combat."_

"X5-865."

"What's your specialty X5-865?" he asked.

"Hand to hand, sir." 

He let out a short laugh at the idea that such a fragile looking flower could excel at hand to hand combat, and she frowned at him. "Very well soldier. I'd like you to run some drills while we wait. Wake up my team."

It was a challenge and she knew it. She slanted a look at him and gave him a salute that definitely had a hint of mockery in it.  Then she turned on her heels and headed over to his team, leaving him to wonder why he had felt a need to provoke her.

**Fogle****Towers******

Syl, Bling and Original Cindy had finished eating and were sitting in Logan's living room. An air of defeat had fallen over them. Every attempt to decipher Lydecker's cryptic message had led them into dead ends. 

"It's not like we could get the information to Logan anyway." Bling observed glumly.  

Syl was about to answer but she was interrupted by a shrill beeping from the computer room. She jumped up and ran in, the others right on her heels. 

They arrived to find her rapidly typing commands into the keyboard. Suddenly the speakers crackled to life with what were clearly Manticore communications.

_"Special Team 4967 reporting in as ordered. Have the coordinates for X5-452 been determined yet?"_

_"Negative. It appears you will have to wait for the homing transmission to start at 24:00 hours. Confirm that you have the receivers in place to pick up the signal."_

_"Affirmative."___

_"Your orders remain in place. Directive 399 is in force. Acknowledge."_

_"Acknowledged."___

_"Good luck. Report in when the mission is accomplished."_

Syl turned off the sound as the transmission ended. "Damn those bastards to hell!"

"What?" Original Cindy demanded.

"They must have implanted a homing device under Max's skin and its set to start transmitting at midnight tonight. We have until then to find Max and Logan and get rid of it. Otherwise it won't be the Welcome Wagon Lady who's comin' to pay them a visit." She paused, "That's not the worst of it. They're operating under a Directive 399."

Bling and Cindy looked at her waiting for enlightenment.

"Translated into English, Directive 399 means take no prisoners. Shoot to kill on sight. They've decided that Max is expendable in order to take out Eyes Only. If we don't get to Max and Logan before Manticore does, they're dead."

**Safe House  ****11:56**** PM******

Max had spent the day grilling Logan about events they had shared in their past life together, but she still didn't seem convinced that it was all true. To make it worse she alternated between being the Max he knew, and X5-452, the Manticore soldier.

Logan could only surmise that the re-conditioning procedures she had undergone hadn't been quite complete when she was sent out on her mission to destroy the Informant Net and kill Eyes Only. She was now teetering between giving in to the conditioning and forgetting Max Guevara completely, or breaking free of it for good.

Max had called for a break, complaining that she had a headache, and Logan thought hard. He knew that he didn't have much time to figure out how to handle her. He would bet that Manticore had some fail safe in place to locate Max in the event that she didn't report back in by some specified time. That deadline had to be approaching quickly.

He thought back to his only previous encounter with the Manticore conditioning techniques, Zack. He tried to remember exactly what Max had told him about Zack's experience in using them to protect her and the others that time he had been captured. She had said that Zack had forgotten about all of the others except for her. Zack had told her that he couldn't forget anything about her. Max had passed it off, but Logan had a hunch as to why Zack hadn't been able to forget Max. He had been in love with her. It was that emotion that had kept him from forgetting her. It had to be, there was no other logical reason he could think of for it. 

Max turned back to him, and he could tell from her stance that the Manticore soldier was once more in control. Logan took a deep breath and made his decision. Logic had failed to get through to Max. That left only one way to go, and he was basing that hope on his interpretation of the brief events of several months ago, on those few brief moments he had shared with Max before she had set out to rescue her sister, Tinga and then later to take down Manticore. If he was wrong they could both end up dead, or worse yet, as prisoners of Manticore.

"Are you ready to cooperate with me yet? " Max demanded as she moved closer to where he sat. 

Taking her off guard, Logan rose from the bed and began to walk toward her.

Max dropped into a defensive posture. "Stop there or I'll have to hurt you."

Logan shrugged. "You're gonna have to do your worst to stop me, Max because I'm not stopping on my own."

"If you don't stop it's on you." she warned.

"Then it's on me." Logan moved another step closer.

**Fogle****Towers****, Shortly after ****Midnight******

It was Bling's shift at monitoring the Manticore communications frequency. "Syl you better come listen to this," he turned and called urgently to Syl.

Syl and Original Cindy both hurried over, and Bling turned on the speakers so they could hear what was being said.

_"…moving out to Sector 6.__ Location coordinates are coming in on our transmitter. Over."_

"_Acknowledged.__ Report in when mission is complete."_

"The transmitter must have kicked in. Why didn't they give the exact coordinates?" Syl turned and kicked the trash can that was nearby, sending it flying across the room. Then she turned and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Original Cindy wanted to know.

"Sector 6. Maybe I can find them somehow. I've got the comm. Monitor the police frequencies for any reports of disturbances and let me know if you hear _anything_ that sounds like it might be them." With that she was gone.

Original Cindy pulled over a chair and sat down next to Bling. "Gimme one of the headsets and tune me in to one of the frequencies. Two sets of ears have gotta be better than one."

**Sector 6**

The Manticore Tac team pulled their van to a halt outside of what appeared to be a deserted building. The van was dark and nondescript, nothing anyone would take note of. At least not until the back doors opened, and half a dozen soldiers in full gear piled out.  A vagrant who was rooting around in a dumpster in an alley across the street took one look and quickly melted away into the shadows. Residents of Post-Pulse Seattle knew that when something was about to go down, it was wise to get out of the way if they wanted to survive intact.

The team leader began giving soft directions into his comm.  He had his team ready to disperse and was about to give the command to move out, when he felt a presence behind him and whirled, his gun at the ready.

A man of about average height with short light blonde hair stood there, hands spread wide to show that he had no weapons. He looked oddly familiar to the team leader.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the leader demanded. 

The man held out a flat leather case. The team leader took it and briefly perused it, then brought his eyes up to scan the man once more as he handed it back.

"I should place you under arrest."

"You could do that, but if you do, I don't think you, or your team, would make it back to base in one piece. It would be in your best interests to hear what I have to say before you do anything."

The team leader looked around. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the six X5 rogues who have an ambush set up inside that building for you and your team. If you walk in there, you'll never come out again except in body bags. Even your one X5 isn't a match for six of them.

"Rumor has it that you went rogue yourself. How do I know that you aren't working with them?"

Lydecker held out a comm unit to the leader. "This is tuned to the frequency they're using. Listen."

The leader took the comm unit and placed it in his ear listening intently. 

"How do you happen to know all of this? Why should I believe that you aren't part of the ambush?"

"I know it because I have connections with them. I _have_ been out in the cold, but that's about to change and I have no loyalty to the rogue X5s. My loyalty has always been to the Manticore project. You're right not to trust me though – keep me here in custody if you want. If anything happens to any of you, your man can kill me easily."

After a moment, the leader signaled to his team to return to the van. 

"Take this man into custody." He pointed at Lydecker and two soldiers immediately seized him. Lydecker didn't resist. The leader continued on. "Change of plans. Ronson, I want you to stay here and hold him inside the van until we return.  If we walk into a trap you know what to do with him. The rest of you listen up. It appears we've been set up.  The inside of this building is an ambush. This is what we're going to do…"

* * * *

Syl randomly cruised the streets of Sector 6 on Max's bike, straining her enhanced senses to detect anything out of the ordinary. So far all she had found were a couple of hoods rolling a drunk in an alley, and some gang bangers out for a rumble. Suddenly the comm in her ear came to life.

"Syl, police radio reports gunshots fired in the vicinity of 10th and Yesler."

"I'm on it. Thanks Bling. Wish me luck." She leaned the bike into a hard turn and headed towards the location Bling had just given her.

When she arrived it was to a scene of complete chaos. A building was going up in spectacular flames. Police and fire vehicles were arriving even as she watched, followed by television news trucks. She glanced down the block and caught sight of an unmarked dark van that was speeding away. Making a quick decision, she turned her bike and took off after it, unnoticed in the commotion surrounding the burning building.

**End of Chapter Eight**


	10. Chapter Nine

**Breakdown by Star24**

**Disclaimer: **Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24

**AN:** This is the conclusion of Breakdown but not the end of AS2. I have a new story almost complete and will be posting it in the very near future. In the meantime if you want to read Smoke & Mirrors and Breakdown in the format I originally wrote them in (not the chaptered one for fanfiction.net) they can be found in the AS2 section of my website.

_______________________________________

**Safe House**

Logan continued to advance on Max, even as she stood there poised to attack him. As he came closer, the fierce look on her face wavered. 

"Come on, Max. It's now or never, because I'm not going to stop." Logan pushed her hard with his words. "Do what you have to stop me."

Max just stood there, unmoving. Finally, Logan stopped in front of her, just inches away. He looked down into her eyes.  Max remained motionless, caught up in his intense gaze. Brown eyes locked with blue in a staring contest that neither one seemed able or willing to break.

"Forever eyes, dark. Somebody's angel." Logan said to her softly. "Do you remember those words, Max?"

Max continued to stare up at him without responding. 

Logan wouldn't let up on her. "How about _…I know who you are?"_

There was a brief flicker in Max's eyes, but then it died, and she stood there clearly undecided as to what she was going to do. Logan could see the conflict within her as it played out in her eyes.

Logan thought hard. He reached out and gently took her unresisting hand in his as he said quietly, "We have all the time in the world."

"Logan…" Max choked out his name when she heard those words, but then she started to turn away from him. Logan refused to let her go. He pulled on her hand, turning her back to face him. Gripping her chin in his free hand he forced her to meet his eyes once again.

"I don't…I can't… what do you want?" Max cried out. Despite her words she made no real move to free herself from him. Logan knew she could have easily pulled away, and he was encouraged that she hadn't.

"I want you to remember who you are. You're not X5-452, loyal Manticore soldier. You're Max Guevara. You escaped from Manticore in 2009 and lived on your own in the outside world until we met in 2019. You work for Jam Pony bike messenger service and for me, for Eyes Only. Original Cindy is your roommate and best friend. Your brother, Zack, gave up his life so that you could live and be free of Manticore."

"Why should I believe any of that?" Max challenged him desperately. "Why should I believe _you?" Her last words were almost a plea, as if she was begging him to convince her._

"Because of one more thing. The most important one of all." Logan took a deep breath and played his final card. "I love you, Max."

Max stood frozen at his words. Logan could see the struggle going on in her eyes, and he knew the time for words was past.  He reached out and pulled her into his arms, sealing his mouth on hers. Max didn't resist, and after a few seconds she began to respond. But then she broke the kiss, and pulled herself out of Logan's arms. They were both breathing heavily. Logan could feel his heart racing as he watched her warily, waiting to see what she was going to say and do.

Max was silent and he felt a pang of despair that he had been wrong in his guess about how to break the conditioning, but then to his relief, she smiled. A soft, genuine smile. She reached out a hand and gently touched his face. "Logan." Recognition was shining in her eyes. 

"Max, is it really you?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"It's really me. I'm back." The truth of her words was in her eyes as they met his,

Logan sighed in relief, and pulled her back into his arms, hugging her close. "Damn, Max, you had me scared." His hands began to slide down her back, caressing her gently. 

Max hugged him back for a moment, and then reluctantly stepped away.  She sighed. "Logan, do you think we can maybe get outta this dump? I feel the need for a hot shower and some food." She looked around the dingy room.

Logan smiled at her and held out his hand. "I think I might be able to provide those. Let's blaze. Where'd you stash my car when you brought me here?"

"In the shed out back, of course." Max grinned back at him as she took the proffered hand and twined her fingers with his. 

**Fogle****Towers****, **1:00 AM********

The mood in Fogle Towers was grim as Syl reported on what she had seen to Bling and Original Cindy. 

"No one inside the place could have survived that inferno. Unless they somehow got out before the fire. But I doubt that. With a Directive 399 in force, it looked to me like the Tac team didn't make much of an attempt to take them alive. They probably set up around the building to shoot anyone who tried to get out, and then used incendiaries to burn the building down around them. I tried to follow what I think was the Tac team van but I lost them at the sector checkpoint. They obviously had a prior clearance set up – the cops just waved them right through. By the time I got through the barricade they were long gone."

Original Cindy had tears running down her face, and Bling placed an arm around her shoulders, offering what comfort he could. Syl looked like she wanted to hit someone or something.

"We can listen in to the frequencies if you really want to know." Bling suggested, not sounding particularly enthused at the idea. Before any of them could make a move, a new voice sounded. 

"We come back expecting a party and it's more like a wake? What's the dealio?" Max broke into the somber mood.

Syl turned in shock, and Bling and Original Cindy stood there with their mouths open as Max and Logan stood in the doorway, hand in hand, looking at them curiously.

"We thought you were both dead." Original Cindy was across the room hugging Max, as Bling walked over to slap a hand on Logan's shoulders. 

"How did you get out of that inferno?" Syl demanded.

"What inferno?" Max gave her a confused look.

"The location that Manticore tracked you to. There was a 399 on and they burned the place to the ground. Spectacularly I might add. Five alarm fire at least."

"They never tracked me anywhere."

"Let me see your arm." Syl examined Max's upper arms, probing gently as she looked for an implant. "There's nothing there." She was quiet for a moment. "It was a setup. Someone at Manticore supplied the Tac team with a phony tracking signal, supposedly leading to you. The question is who was it, and what was the purpose behind it?"

Logan and Max exchanged looks with Syl. "It seems like there are wheels within wheels in this game." Logan mused. "Tomorrow I'll get to working on it and see what I can find out. But Max has been through a lot; she needs to get some rest tonight." 

Logan walked over and dropped his arm casually around Max's shoulders, pulling her close to him. Max gave him a slight frown, but her complexion was paler than usual, and her eyes were shadowed with weariness as she leaned against his side, allowing him to support her. Syl's sharp eyes didn't fail to notice, even though she said nothing.

"If that's a hint for us to leave, Original Cindy's not so sure she wants to let her homegirl alone with you again. You sure she's gonna be okay this time?" Original Cindy challenged him.

"It's all good now, boo" Max reassured Cindy.  "I'm really home this time. No more Manticore mind games."

Syl looked at Logan, and he nodded in confirmation. "It was touch and go there for a while, but we made it."

"What was the key Logan? Lydecker threw out some cryptic hint but we couldn't figure it out."

"What was it?" Logan asked curiously.

" 'Remember your training. Don't let the enemy's apparent weakness fool you. What appears to be his weak point may actually be his point of greatest strength and conversely, his apparent strength may be his Achilles heel_.'"Bling quoted._

Max smiled up at Logan. "You can always depend on Deck not to make things easy."

"Well?" Syl demanded. "Do you know what it means?"

"Logan did." Max smiled at Logan, but refused to elaborate.

Syl looked knowingly at the two of them. "I don't suppose that I'm going to get anything more specific out of either of you, am I?"

Before either one could reply, Bling interjected, "I think we need to leave these two alone. If my guess is right, neither one of them has had much rest in the last twenty four hours." 

"You really think they're gonna_ rest_ if we leave them be?" Original Cindy couldn't resist. Max shot her a look but Logan just smiled, as Bling and Syl pulled Cindy out the door.

"We'll catch you in the morning to get the rest of the story." Syl called out in farewell. Her voice drifted around the closing door, speaking to Bling and Original Cindy. "You guys want to hit Crash for a couple of brews…"

As soon as the door had closed behind their friends, Logan turned and looked at Max. 

"Stay here with me tonight," he said bluntly, getting right to the point.

"Logan, I …" Max hesitated as she looked at him, her eyes pleading with him to understand.

Logan didn't fail her, "I know. You're exhausted and so am I. I just I don't think I can stand to let you out of my sight. I need to keep you where I know you're safe. That's all." _For now_ went unspoken but understood by both of them.

Max couldn't resist the plea in his eyes, and truth be told, she felt like she needed to be with him, as much as he seemed to need to be with her.  She nodded, "It's all good then, Logan."

"Why don't you shower while I fix us some food?" he suggested. She smiled, and he leaned in to drop a soft kiss on her lips before she walked away. "Save me some hot water," he called after her and he was rewarded by her laugh.

"Sorry, Logan, but the early bird gets the worm…" floated behind her down his hallway. 

Logan smiled to himself at the return of her familiar attitude, and headed to the kitchen to make them some food.

 * * * * 

Logan's bedroom was bathed in the warm glow of a myriad of candles that flickered on every available surface.  For once the curtains were drawn across the windows, shutting out the dark world that lay outside. 

Max and Logan lay spooned together in his bed. Max's hair was still damp from her shower. She was wearing one of Logan's t-shirts and a pair of old sweatpants that she had left in his place months earlier. He was dressed in a similar fashion and his arms were wrapped around her waist holding her close. Her hands rested lightly on top of his. 

Earlier, Max had seemed exhausted by her ordeal, and he had expected her to fall asleep as soon as they settled in, but he could tell by her breathing that she was still awake. She let out a soft exhalation of breath, and Logan prompted her gently, whispering into her hair, "What is it?"

"Manticore is still out there. They aren't going to go away."

"No, they aren't." He saw no point in denying what they both knew to be true.

"What if they're still inside my head, Logan? How do we know for sure that I'm really okay?" Max rolled to face him. 

Their eyes met and he leaned in to brush a soft kiss across her lips, "I meant what I said to you at the safe house, Max. You're not alone in this. We'll face them together … wherever they might turn up." 

"Yeah." Max paused. "Logan…"

"What?" he prompted when she didn't go on.

"…thank you."

Logan gazed at her, "For?"

"For always being there for me."

Logan stroked her hair gently. "Where else would I be?" After a moment of silence he asked, "You feeling okay? You took a pretty rough ride the past few days."

Max shrugged, "Just another day in the life of a genetically engineered super chick."

Logan laughed, "Not to mention her trusty sidekick."

Their eyes met once again, but then Max's slowly drifted closed, as she settled back into his arms and finally let sleep overtake her. 

**Epilogue**

**Manticore, several days later**

Donald Lydecker settled into his desk chair and looked around his office. It was good to be back. There was going to be an inquiry regarding his and Elizabeth Renfro's actions in the last six months, but John had promised that Renfro was out and Deck was back in.  The inquiry was nothing more than a formality. Paperwork for the files. The fact that he was sitting here in this office, and not in a cell, was proof enough for him of the truth of that. Renfro was furious about his return, but the word was that she was busy, frantically scrambling to get her ducks in a row in order to face the committee. Deck was looking forward to seeing her performance.

But now it was time to start to bring things back up to speed. He had a lot of catching up to do. Things had changed in his absence, and not all of them were for the better. There was also the matter of X5-452 and Eyes Only. Manticore thought X5-452 was dead which was fine by him, and they wanted Eyes Only dead as well, but Lydecker had other plans. There were uses he could put the two of them to, without them knowing it. He chuckled at the thought of Eyes Only unknowingly working for Donald Lydecker and Manticore as he reached for a folder and began to read.

**Finis**

**Watch for The Puppetmasters, the next Alternate Season 2 story -- coming soon.**


End file.
